1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to drive systems for controlling transmission of rotary drive motion, such as for tracked wheels of an occupant-propelled toy vehicle, and, more particularly, is concerned with an integrated rotary drive motion transmission and directional control system, such as for such toy vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of different drive systems for controlling the transmission of rotary drive motion to tracked wheels of occupant-propelled toy vehicles are disclosed in the prior art. Representative of the prior art patents disclosing such drive systems are U.S. Pat. No. 1,376,347 to McComb, U.S. Pat. No. 2,289,331 to Alt, U.S. Pat. No. 2,305,072 to Fetters, U.S. Pat. No. 2,633,370 to Johnston et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,703 to Evans and U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,546. The drive systems of some of these patents appear too complex and complicated for a young child of average strength to be able to manually operate the drive systems. The drive systems of other of these patents appear to only simulate the operation of a tracked wheel vehicle. While these prior art drive systems may operate satisfactorily under the limited conditions for which they were designed, none of these drive systems appear to approach an optimum arrangement of components for enabling a young child to effectively propel and operate a tracked toy vehicle.
Consequently, a need still exists for an innovation which will overcome the problems of prior art drive systems without introducing any new problems in place thereof.
The present invention provides an integrated rotary drive motion transmission and directional control system designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The system of the present invention utilizes a relatively limited number of simple, uncomplicated components which can be operated by a young child to carry out both rotary drive motion transmission and rotary drive motion directional control functions.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an integrated rotary drive motion transmission and directional control system which comprises: (a) a rotor mounted to rotate in either first or second opposite directions and having a pair of annular channels each defined on one of a pair of opposite sides of the rotor by a pair of radially spaced inner and outer concentric surfaces; and (b) a pair of rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies each mounted to rotate and disposed adjacent to one of the opposite sides of the rotor, each of the rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies having an output element disposed remotely from the rotor and an input element disposed adjacent to the rotor, the input element adapted to be moved from an intermediate neutral position to one of a pair of opposite drive positions where the input element engages one or the other of the inner and outer surfaces of the annular channel on the rotor enabling transmitting of rotary drive motion from the rotor to the output element of the one of the rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies and also enabling controlling the speed and direction of the transmitted rotary drive motion.
Also, the present invention is directed to an integrated rotary drive motion transmission and directional control system which comprises: (a) a support structure; (b) a pair of driven output mechanisms mounted to the support structure for receiving rotary drive motion; (c) a rotor mounted to the support structure to rotate in either one of first and second opposite directions and disposed between and spaced from the driven output mechanisms, the rotor having a pair of opposite sides and a pair of annular channels, each of the annular channels being defined on one of the opposite sides of the rotor and having opposing inner and outer concentric surfaces radially spaced from one another such that the outer surface has a diameter larger than a diameter of the inner surface; (d) a drive input mechanism mounted to the support structure for transmitting rotary drive motion to the rotor so as to cause the rotor to rotate in either one of the first and second opposite directions; (e) a pair of rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies mounted to the support structure to rotate in either one of the first and second opposite directions and disposed in a transverse relationship to and extending between the rotor and the driven output mechanisms, each of the rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies having an output element disposed at and drivingly coupled with one of the driven output mechanisms and an input element disposed at one of the opposite sides of the rotor and adapted to be moved to one of a pair of displaced drive positions wherein the input element engages one of the concentric surfaces and is disengaged from the other of the concentric surfaces of one of the annular channels so as to enable transmitting of the rotary drive motion from the drive input mechanism to the driven output mechanisms via the rotor and rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies and also determine speed and direction of the transmitted rotary drive motion, the input element also adapted to be moved to an intermediate neutral position located between the displaced drive positions in which the input element is disposed between and spaced from the inner and outer concentric surfaces of the one of the annular channels of the rotor so as to disable the transmitting of the rotary drive motion from the drive input mechanism to the driven output mechanisms via the rotor and rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies; and (f) means mounted to the support structure for controlling movement of the input element of the rotary drive motion transmitting assemblies independently of one another between the displaced drive positions and the intermediate neutral position.
Further, the present invention is directed to a bi-lateral track drive vehicle employing the above-described integrated rotary drive motion transmission and directional control system.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.